So imagine how well Ottawa would play if they were actually getting paid.
Ottawa spanked Atlanta 8-1 last night.
Marian Hossa had four goals, which is like what New Jersey scores in four games.
Temporary Atlanta coach Don Waddell must be glad he fired Curt Fraser. Because Fraser was really holding the team back...
Too bad the Senators can't get paid by the goal. They sure could use the money. The team couldn't meet payroll this week. They should be able to pay everyone soon, though.
And Atlanta might be willing to pay Ottawa not to play them.
Also, in case you forgot how hot Ottawa has been this season, they beat San Jose 9-3 right before Christmas.

It seems like St. Louis goalie Brent Johnson just returned to the lineup (which he did, a week or so ago) and already he's shakey. He was pulled for the second time in two games.
St. Louis really seemed to play better when all of their key players were injured.
I wonder if anyone is regretting putting goalie Tom Barrasso on waivers...
In other Blues news, Chris Pronger had some crazy wrist surgery. It's a 90-year-old procedure that could bring the defenseman's game back almost 100%. It's also very risky surgery. There's probably more, but the article was just too medical for me. It kind of freaked me out.

So Canuck coach Marc Crawford is really good, but really angry.
I always get upset by coaches like this, but I'm beginning to think it's the only way to get results in the NHL. At least for a season or two. But Vancouver also seems to have that bunker mentality, where everyone acts like the fate of Vancouver hangs in the balance of hockey games. Apparently, that's a good thing.

So Chicago's Boris Mironov decided to end his 28-day protest over the amount of ice time he saw.
You know. Because nothing gets you more ice time than not playing.
Mironov also wanted to be traded.
You know. Because teams love players who don't play.
Even his teammates don't seem thrilled to have him back, either.
So Mironov's strike seems like a great move all around. Well worth the half a million it cost him in salary ($18,000/day X 28 days).

Ottawa has been kicking ass so far this season.
Too bad you can't say the same about their books.
Team owners tried to refinance, but the deal fell through. According to The Globe and Mail, the team might run out of cash in just a few weeks.
I'm not sure what this all means, but I sure hope it doesn't result in the Senators leaving Ottawa. I especially hope it doesn't result in the Senators coming down to the States. I'm an American, and I love America, but we need to keep teams in Canada, too. Hockey is a Canadian game and the NHL employs an awful lot of Candians. They deserve to have viable teams in their country, too. It takes away from the game to screw existing fan bases for potential ones. It's even worse when they set up teams in places that know nothing about hockey. Look at the Hurricanes. People only came to games once they made it to the Stanley Cup finals. The rest of they season they stayed away (which is why they were 24th in the league in attendance). So keep the Senators in Ottawa!
Thank you.

The Toronto Star has New Year's resolutions for the Leafs. They include new teeth for Mats Sundin and a new haircut for Bryan McCabe.
Silly stuff, really, but what the heck. It's a new year.

Joe Sakic is close to returning to action from his sprained ankle. I don't really have anything clever to add to that. Colorado has got to be glad to see him, though. He was doing pretty well before his December 13 injury.
I hope someone sent him a note that there's a new coach, though.

Uncle.
Seriously. I give up. I have no idea what's going on with the Islander's goalie situation.
The Isles call up Rick DiPietro, he plays his ass off and now they're sending him back down.
I got this e-mail from the Islanders yesterday:

Goaltender Rick DiPietro has been returned to the Sound Tigers. The 2000 first rounder started two games for the Islanders, going 1-1-0 with a 2.02 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.

So the Islanders are going to piss off their star prospect by sending him back down for no reason? The Isles are trading their alleged goalie of the future for Chris Osgood? (And won't goalies of the future be robots that fight with buzzsaws and lasers?)
I just don't get it.
(Although I suppose I should mention Osgood only gave up one goal against Florida last night. No buzzsaws or lasers were used during the game).
Also, according to Newsday, DiPietro isn't pissed about being sent down.
I don't buy it.

I know a lot of players (or some anyway) are keeping online journals. I just read Bruin P.J. Stock's journal and it's pretty freaking funny.
Take this entry:

What is it with people who get upset and punch things? What are they thinking? They get upset and instead of just saying something negative in their heads or stomping a foot, they punch stuff. What are you going to get out of punching a wall? You’re probably going to put a hole in your wall and then you’ll have to fix it. In the two seconds that you get mad, instead of just cursing or changing thoughts or kicking the floor you have to spend the next three hours trying to fix the hole. Or even worse, you might spend the next three months in a cast. I just don’t know what people get out of punching something, and especially people who punch glass. I think people need to read more books on channeling their anger

The rest of his journal entries are here. Stock is entertaining as hell. He should write more.

I know everyone knows Calgary won their first game under Darryl Sutter.
I just love how happy all of Calgary is.
Like in this headline from the Calgary Sun: "Darryl For Mayor!"
And this front page: "That's More Like It!"
It's nice to see Calgary so excited (as well as Darryl's brother Brian).
And it's nice to see so many exclamation points!

Geez. Toronto usually doesn't have this kind of injury trouble until the playoffs. Alexander Mogilny and Mats Sundin are both questionable for the Leafs' New Year's Eve game against the Canucks.
But wait. There's more.
Mikael Renberg is also out with an infected finger.
I'm calling all of this Maple Karma.

Pittsburgh can't even beat Atlanta. And the Thrashers don't even have a coach!
Atlanta actually beat Carolina on Friday, too.
NHL teams are never as hot as when the new coach first takes over. No wonder teams go through like two coaches a season.

Wow. This is really cool.
Joe Franke is the 42-year-old equipment manager for the UHL's Fort Wayne Komets. One Komets' goalie was called up to the AHL and the other was sick with a virus, so they had no one to play goal.
So Franke, who never played a professional game in his life, stepped in.
He stopped 4 of 6 shots in regulation (I assume he didn't start) and then got to play in the shoot-out. He stopped 3 of 4 and the Komets won.
On a side note, this situation isn't unprecedented. Ross "Lefty" Wilson, an assistant trainer for the Red Wings was called into a game back in 1956 (this was before teams carried back-up goalies). The thing was, he had to play goal for the opposing Maple Leafs.
They don't pay trainers enough.
(Thanks to The Hockey News for the tip)

Calgary finally picked a coach. And it only took 25 days.
Darryl Sutter, fired just this season by the San Jose Sharks, will take over for the Flames. Interestingly his brother Brian coached the Flames from 1997 to 2000.
Darryl had to be pretty anxious to work if he took the Calgary job. He says it's no worse than when San Jose was when he took over, but I think he has to say that.
Somewhat creepily, a lot of players also remember playing for his brother. I don't know why I find that so gross. It just kind of seems like sloppy seconds.
I wonder how the players will react to Sutter. He's got a reputation for being very hard on players — lots of long, intense practices. In fact, I've heard that's part of what got him fired from San Jose.
Also, Sutter has never missed the playoffs. Not in the minors, not as a player, and not as a coach. How crazy is that?
Also, Calgary won last night. Now how crazy is that?

The Globe and Mail took a poll of the NHL's 30 GMs. Sixteen responded. Most predicted Dallas will win the Cup. Detroit came in second and Philly third, with one vote (I guess we know Bobby Clarke returned his survey...)
The majority also said Patrick Roy is the NHL's best goaltender.
There are more questions. It's all kind of silly — like a high school popularity contest (for example, "Which NHL city has the best fans?").
Check it out here.

Just how bad is Philadelphia's special teams? Phoenix blanked them 4-0. That's not a score. That's cry for help.
In Philadelphia's defense (not that they know what defense means...), it was an emotional night for Phoenix, what with goalie Sean Burke returning to action ahead of schedule.
I know I always bitch about Flyer coack Ken Hitchcock, but it really seems like the team is already tuning him out. They're not playing his system. They're not playing anyone's system. It's like ice dancing out there.

This column is kind of interesting. According to David J. Neal, a coach's fate rests in the hands (or pads) of their goalie. In other words, bad goalie=fired coach.
I don't know, though.
Maybe bad coaches make for bad goalies.
Neal also has a nice piece on Jay Bouwmeester and how Florida's first-round draft pick is adjusting to his first year in the NHL.
Mostly he's just working out, but his game is getting pretty good, too.

In Duck news, they're supposedly interested in New York Ranger Radek Dvorak.
Ranger coach Bryan Trottier is worried that if Dvorak leaves, he'll have no one to pick on, so the Rangers are asking for a crappy player in return.
On a sad note, Paul Kariya's dad died Friday.
Kariya doesn't seem to be taking any time off for this loss.